Progress In Iraq

We won't be seeing this in our local newspapers. Why? Because it is mostly about Iraqis getting on with their lives and building a country. It is about the ordinary, everyday advance of progress in a country that has been stalled for 25 years. This CENTCOM news release has been edited for content. Only items that have been finished have been left in. References to projects that are not complete have been ommitted.

August 22, 2005 Release Number: 05-08-21 THIS WEEK IN IRAQ (12-18 AUGUST 2005) School Children: Some of the Iraqi citizens benefiting from reconstruction this week were school children. Several projects were completed across the country, including school buildings. The Iraqi Security Forces continued to display their capability, and local citizens contributed to the security of their communities. Children in Dobak Tappak village of Al Tamim Province received much-needed school supplies, clothing and toys from the Nahrain Foundation, a non-governmental organization that focuses on providing proper nutrition, decent clothing and medical supplies to Iraqi women and children. The foundation received its supplies as part of a joint effort between American donations and a Coalition forces-run program known as “Operation Provide School Supplies,” which accepts donations from private citizens and corporations in the U.S. More than 600 children will return to renovated or rebuilt schools in Maysan Province when school starts this fall. This week, renovation on the Al-Eethnar Mud School was completed, and the Al Eethar Mud School was replaced at a cost of $87,000, benefiting 500 students who attend classes there. Completed Construction Projects Eight newly constructed schools in Wassit and Babil Provinces are receiving new furniture before the start of the school year. Each of the school projects will receive office desks and chairs, file cabinets and new student desks. 400 three-student desks will be proportionally divided among the schools, based upon the number of students. An electric distribution and street lighting project in Daquq was completed on Aug. 17, providing new overhead distribution lines and street lighting in the community. Baghdad trunk sewer line, was completed this week benefitting approximately two million people. Workers cleaned and repaired the Baghdad trunk sewer line and its associated manholes and pumping stations. The $17.48 million project restored principal sewage collection elements in the Adhamiya, Sadr City and 9-Nissan districts of Baghdad, and will provide for the intended sewer flows to the Rustamiya wastewater treatment plant. The Basrah courthouse project completed phase one. This five-phase, $865,000 project is expected to be entirely complete in October of 2005. It is expected to hold a number of high profile trials. Work continues, employing an average of 70 local Iraqi workers daily. A patrol station in the Karkh district of Baghdad Province was completed, as was a $390,300 border-post project on the Saudi Arabian border. A division headquarters building for the Iraqi Army in Salah Ad Din Province was also completed this week. The $7 million project includes a single-story building with a concrete roof and interior office space to accommodate the unit. Additionally, a $2 million firing range in Taji was completed this week. A new prison project was started in Khan Bani Sa’ad, a mountainous municipality in the Ba’quba District of Diyala Province. The $75 million project will house up to 3,600 inmates. The entire site is approximately 550,000 square meters, which includes an educational center, medical facilities and administration buildings. The project will employ approximately 1,000 Iraqi workers during construction. Iraqi Army Turnovers, Graduations, Etc.: Generals from Iraqi and Coalition forces joined local tribal leaders at a ceremony where Forward Operating Base Dagger in Tikrit, one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces, was officially handed over to the 4th Iraqi Army Division this week. This highlights the increasing turnover of security responsibilities to Iraqi forces. In Taji, Iraqi soldiers completed a Strategic Infrastructure Battalion Train-the-Trainer course. The 90 graduates will go on to serve as instructors at an Iraqi Army training base. A class of future IA non-commissioned officers graduated from their primary leadership development course on Aug. 15 in Tikrit. Iraqi Army unit training also included combat lifesaving, staff training, computer skills and weapons training. This week, the 1st Iraqi Army Brigade succeeded at implementing the first Non-commissioned Officer Academy in the country. Iraqi soldiers from the most recent class were the last group to be instructed by the U.S. Soldiers who had developed the training. During Saddam Hussein’s regime, an NCO corps did not exist in the Iraqi Army. The class will continue after the U.S. instructors leave, and will be taught by NCOs from the 1st IA who assisted earlier courses. Security Operations: Baghdad, Iraqi Police Service officers in the New Baghdad District conducted a variety of operations including raids involving over 450 officers. Police confiscated 30 AK-47 rifles, two hand guns, and one machine gun during the raids. They arrested 30 suspected insurgents. In addition, police at the Al Khanssa Police Station in Baghdad captured a kidnapper involved in the abduction of a local physician, whose family paid a ransom to have the victim released. Police officers recovered the doctor’s vehicle as well as the ransom money paid by his family. Iraqi Army soldiers found a weapons cache under a vehicle in Rawah this week. The cache contained two light machine guns and 3000 rounds of ammunition, nine AK-47 rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition, one NATO machine gun and 200 rounds of ammunition, four concussion grenades, one fragmentary grenade without fuses, and various other ammunition. Based on two separate tips from Iraqis, Coalition forces discovered weapons caches that contained rocket-propelled grenades and two launchers, 16 mortar rounds and a launcher, and five boxes of anti-aircraft ammunition hidden in northwest Baghdad. Another tip led Coalition forces to a large cache of artillery shells in the early hours of Aug. 16. The shells were apparently intended for use as improvised explosive devices. The 25 to 30 individual rounds, located inside a building within Al Anbar Province, were destroyed after security forces confirmed there was no one in the building. After a local Iraqi identified his neighbors as insurgents, Iraqi Army soldiers and Coalition forces conducted a joint cordon and search operation in northwest Fallujah and detained two suspects. Iraqi Security Forces killed terrorist Abu Zubair, also known as Mohammed Salah Sultan, in an ambush in the northern city of Mosul this week. Zubair, who was wearing a suicide vest when he was killed, was a known member of Al Qaeda in Iraq and a lieutenant in Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi’s terrorist operations in Mosul. He was being sought for his involvement in a July suicide bombing attack of a police station in Mosul that killed five Iraqi police officers. He was also suspected of resourcing and facilitating suicide bomber attacks against Coalition, Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi citizens throughout the country. Local Iraqi citizens, along with the growing Iraqi Security Forces, are contributing to the security of their communities. http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20050821.txt

Cindy Sheehan Is A Sock Puppet

Poor Cindy Sheehan. I've changed my mind about her. I thought at one time she was making a cynical use of her son's death to score a political point.

Now I realize she is just a dupe for the Left. She is so ignorant of the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and so child-like in her assessments of them, that to attribute cynicism to her would be like accusing a three year old of calculating greed because he believes in Santa Claus.

Michaell Moore, etal should be ashamed of themselves, but they have no shame.

Below is part of a transcript of an interview of Sheehan: "Sheehan plays 'Hardball' with Matthews" on Hardball, with Chris Mathews. I have highlighted the questions and statements that show her ignorance and naivete.

MATTHEWS: All right. If your son had been killed in Afghanistan, would you have a different feeling? SHEEHAN: I don't think so, Chris, because I believe that Afghanistan is almost the same thing. We're fighting terrorism. Or terrorists, we're saying. But they're not contained in a country. This is an ideology and not an enemy. And we know that Iraq, Iraq had no terrorism. They were no threat to the United States of America. MATTHEWS: But Afghanistan was harboring, the Taliban was harboring al-Qaida which is the group that attacked us on 9/11. SHEEHAN: Well then we should have gone after al-Qaida and maybe not after the country of Afghanistan. MATTHEWS: But that's where they were being harbored. That's where they were headquartered. Shouldn't we go after their headquarters? Doesn't that make sense? SHEEHAN: Well, but there were a lot of innocent people killed in that invasion, too. ... But I'm seeing that we're sending our ground troops in to invade countries where the entire country wasn't the problem. Especially Iraq. Iraq was no problem. And why do we send in invading armies to march into Afghanistan when we're looking for a select group of people in that country? So I believe that our troops should be brought home out of both places where we're obviously not having any success in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden is still on the loose and that's who they told us was responsible for 9/11.

U.S. Armed Forces Exceed Recruitment Goals, Ha!

The Main Stream Media's Leftist Bias Batting Average is still 1000. Below is a story from the New York Post " THE REAL IRAQ NEWS ". I have edited it for content.

Remember last spring, when the Army's recruitment efforts fell short for a few months? The media's glee would have made you confuse the New York Times and Air America. When the Army attempted to explain that enlistments are cyclical and numbers dip at certain times of the year, the media ignored it. All that mattered was the wonderful news that the Army couldn't find enough soldiers. We were warned, in solemn tones, but delivered with gleeful certainty that our military was headed for a train wreck. Remember that? Now, as the fiscal year nears an end, the Army's numbers look great. Especially in combat units and Iraq, soldiers are re-enlisting at record levels. But you don't hear it in the MSM. Let's look at the numbers, which offer a different picture of patriotism than the editorial pages do. * Every one of the Army's 10 divisions — its key combat organizations — has exceeded its re-enlistment goal for the year to date. Those with the most intense experience in Iraq have the best rates. The 1st Cavalry Division is at 136 percent of its target, the 3rd Infantry Division at 117 percent. Among separate combat brigades, the figures are even more startling, with the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division at 178 percent of its goal and the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Mech right behind at 174 percent of its re-enlistment target. This is unprecedented in wartime. Even in World War II, we needed the draft. Where are the headlines? * What about first-time enlistment rates, since that was the issue last spring? The Army is running at 108 percent of its needs. Guess not every young American despises his or her country and our president. * The Army Reserve is a tougher sell, given that it takes men and women away from their families and careers on short notice. Well, Reserve recruitment stands at 102 percent of requirements. * And then there's the Army National Guard. We've been told for two years that the Guard was in free-fall. Really? Guard recruitment and retention comes out to 106 percent of its requirements as of June 30. Of course, we'll hear stammering about an "army of mercenaries"— naive, uneducated kids lured by the promise of big retention bonuses. That's another lie told by the elite to excuse themselves from serving our country in uniform. The young men and women who have been through the crucible of combat — often on repeated deployments — are hardly naive. Their education levels exceed the American average. And, as of Aug. 2, the Army had spent a 2005 total of only $347 million on Selective Re-enlistment Bonuses — that's weekend walking-around money for America's Fortune 500 CEOs. Big bucks for risking your life? Not hardly. Only 60 percent of soldiers get any re-enlistment bonus. For the overwhelming number whose skills merit an extra incentive, bonuses runs between $6,000 and $12,400 per year of contracted service — per year of facing death, wounds, separation from family and uncertainty as to whether you'll ever see that family again. A total of 643 soldiers with very special capabilities, from special operators to doctors, got an average payment of $57,000 — a fraction of what the private sector offers them for doing the same jobs at far less risk. They don't do it for the money. Guess we have to face it: Patriotism is alive and well. Soldiers believe in the Army, and they believe in their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. They love their comrades, too. And yes, the word is "love." They would die for the man or woman serving beside them. They're risking their lives to save a broken state, to give tens of millions of human beings a chance at decent lives, to do the grim work that no one else in the world is willing to do. Their reward? The Cindy Sheehan Extravaganza. Predictions of disaster. The depiction of Michael Moore as a hero and our soldiers as dupes. And a ceaseless attempt to convince the American people that there's no hope in Iraq. The ugly truth is that much of the media only cares about our soldiers when they're dead or crippled. That's a story. As you read this, 500,000 soldiers are on active duty because they chose to serve their country. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of Reservists and Guard members have been called into uniform. And they're all behaving as true soldiers do: Running toward the sound of the guns, not away from them. We should be humbled by their choices, honored by their sacrifices, and proud of what they're fighting to achieve. Instead of the jerk's refrain "Support our troops, bring them home," the line should run "Support our troops, make their home worthy of them." Our men and women in uniform — in every service — deserve far better than we've given them.

Hillary Named In Lawsuit Over Campaign Financing

Hillary Clinton's shennanigins are slowly catching up to her. A sympathetic judge and a timid proscecutor kept her name out of David Rosen's trial, and the case against him failed. This time it may be different, unless she buys the plaintiff off.

Worldnet Daily has the story: "Fraud Lawsuit Targets Hillary".

As Hillary Clinton positions herself for a presidential run, a former fund-raiser is moving ahead with a lawsuit claiming the New York senator orchestrated the largest campaign-finance fraud ever by an American political campaign. In an interview with WorldNetDaily, Los Angeles millionaire lawyer and businessman Peter Franklin Paul asserted Clinton failed to declare to the Federal Election Commission more than $2 million in contributions – a massive omission he believes prevented her 2000 senatorial campaign from going bankrupt in the crucial final weeks. Paul has filed a civil suit charging Sen. Clinton and her husband, former President Clinton, with fraud, coercion and conspiracy. California courts so far have denied the Clintons' motions to dismiss, and Paul expects the case to proceed at the beginning of the year, just as Hillary Clinton prepares to defend her Senate seat. "This public servant, who is sworn to uphold the Constitution, is the biggest violator of the fundamental principles and statutes relating to fair elections and honest government," Paul told WND. "She needs to be dealt with in a way that will show this country and elected officials in Washington that everybody is accountable to the rule of law."

The Politics Of Grief

The Left has discovered a new arrow in its quiver. Some would say the last bit of scum from the bottom of the barrel. Grief is the latest weapon in the arsenal of Anti-Americanism. If a person is grieving, so say the Lefties, no one can engage them in political debate because.......they are grieving, you know. And their grief, by itself makes them correct and sane.

An article in the Weekly Standard, "Speak of the Dead" points out some of the more egregious uses of people and grief by the American Left since 9-11.

Here is a message for our friends in the grief-based community: Really, you must cut this out. We are tired of having our emotions worked on and worked over; tired of the matched sets of dueling relatives, tired of all of these claims on our sympathy, that at the same time defy common sense. The heart breaks for everyone who lost relatives and friends on September 11, as it does for the relatives of the war dead and wounded, as it does for the sons of Paul Wellstone. It does not break for MoveOn.org, Maureen Dowd, and Gail Sheehy, who have not been heartbroken, except by a string of election reverses, and are using the anguish of other people in an effort to turn them around. Especially, it does not break for George Soros, who, after squandering millions on the Kerry campaign, is now using poor Cindy Sheehan to get back in the action, and it does not break for political operative Joe Trippi, late of the Howard Dean meltdown, who is trying to do the same thing. She is now the vehicle for a collection of losers, who will use her, and then toss her over and out once she has served their purposes, or more likely failed to do so. Her family has broken up under the effects of this circus; she has now lost her husband, as well as her son. Please, send her back to her therapist, and what is now left of her broken-up family. And please--do not try this again.

Republicans Have Nothing To Lose, Everything to Gain by Rule Change.

When the Democrats decided to have it their own way, anyway, by filibustering judicial nominations in 2003. They broke with a 217 year old tradition. A tradition is just an unwritten rule. The only thing that enforces an unwritten rule is the respect both sides have for it. Either side has the ability to rewrite an unwritten rule by simply disregarding it. The Democrats chose to do this. They broke tradition. Once a Senate tradition has been broken, the only thing that can bring back the pre-existing Senatorial configuration is for the written rules to be changed to enforce a previously unwritten rule.

The Democrats made a stategic mistake by breaking tradition at a time when the other side possessed the ability to change the rules. Oh, that's right, they thought they were going to regain the Senate in 2004. Haha! Their only hope now is that the Republicans do not have the requisite backbone to change the rules.

I guarantee you one thing, as certain as the grass turns green in Spring, as soon as the Democrats regain the majority, they will change the rules, now that the tradition genie is out of the bottle.

So, Republicans, you have a lot to lose if you don't, and everything to gain if you do change the written rules and enforce the old reality.

Gowain

Democrat McDermott Loses Court Fight, Will Appeal

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last week handed Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) a key victory in his ongoing lawsuit against Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), making it more likely that McDermott will be forced to pay punitive damages and lawyer’s fees for leaking a taped conversation of GOP leaders way back in 1996.

... an October district court decision that ordered McDermott to pay Boehner $60,000 in damages, plus legal fees that could mount to more than $500,000, said Boehner’s lawyer, Mike Carvin.

Boehner could expect a final decision in a suit that he initiated against McDermott in March of 1998 by the end of this year, according to Carvin.

McDermott is also the subject of a separate and ongoing, investigation by the House Ethics Committee based on a complaint filed by Rep. David Hobson (R-Utah) last year on the leaked tape issue.

McDermott’s legal predicament stems from his leaking to several newspapers a transcript of an audiotape recorded by a Florida couple with eves-dropping equipment of a conference call of GOP leaders on how to handle issues surrounding then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

Boehner sued McDermott for violating his privacy and McDermott has since admitted that he provided the tape to reporters.

McDermott, however, has consistently argued that the First Amendment protected his decision to share confidential material with the media.

LINK

Gowain

Democrat Jones Places 7th in Trip-Derby

Washington- Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones ranks seventh among U.S. representatives and senators in the number of trips taken since 2000 that were paid for by outside groups, according to a study of congressional travel compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine.

The Cleveland Democrat's 47 trips were the most any Ohio member of Congress took in that period. Private groups paid more than $75,000 for her to deliver speeches and learn about issues in destinations as exotic as Taiwan, Malaysia, Egypt and Antigua, and as familiar as Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton.

Members of Congress say such trips expose their legislative priorities to broad audiences and give valuable educational opportunities without billing taxpayers. But watchdog groups like the Congressional Accountability Project say privately funded trips let special interests buy influence with members of Congress.

"In general, these trips help provide members of Congress with a high-flying lifestyle that leaves the rest of America in the dust," said accountability project director Gary Ruskin, who said privately funded excursions should be banned.

Such trips are currently legal, though there are some restrictions.

LINK

Gowain

Lobbyist Paid for Democrat's 2001 Trip

Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an Ohio Democrat who sits on the House ethics committee, took a 2001 trip to Puerto Rico that was paid for by a registered lobbyist firm — an apparent violation of the chamber's ethics rules — according to documents that she filed with the House clerk.


A spokeswoman for Mrs. Jones disputed those records yesterday, saying "human error" led a staffer to list the name of D.C. lobbyist firm Smith, Dawson & Andrews as having paid the $3,366 tab for Mrs. Jones and her husband to travel to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques in the Caribbean.


Smith Dawson was put on the form in error," Jones spokeswoman Nicole Williams said. "The invitation came from Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques. They hired Smith Dawson to handle logistics for the trip." Miss Williams declined to provide The Washington Times with any evidence to support her assertion and refused to have either the lobbying firm or the group she says actually paid for the trip provide any documentation to prove her claim.


In addition to the travel disclosure form, which was filed two weeks after Mrs. Jones' return and bears her signature, the lobbyists also were listed as the trip's sponsor in the financial disclosure forms she signed and filed at the end of the year.

LINK

Gowain

Did Pelosi Staffers Violate Ethics Rules

Eddie Charmaine Manansala, Pelosi's special assistant on East Asian affairs, filed a disclosure form for the $9,087 trip a few hours after the newspaper's inquiry and sent a note to the ethics committee saying, "I did not know I was supposed to file these forms and I apologize for its lateness."

6 months late!

Dim Democrat Fails to Report Trip

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) even asked the ethics committee to investigate him after a reporter for the newspaper Roll Call pointed out that a travel disclosure form from 2001 listed the lobbying firm Rooney Group International as paying for a $1,782 trip to Boston, which would be a violation of House rules. LINK

With stupidos like this the Dems are going to end up hoist on their own petard.

Judicial Injudiciousness, Not a Problem

The present battle in the Senate and in the Media over the appointment of judges misses the point. While everyone is planning and plotting strategies to get the kind of judge they want into the Judiciary System for eventual appointment to the Supreme Court, no one is asking the question that should be asked, "Why should unelected people so important to a representative republic?"

The answer is, of course, they should not. One of the fundamental rights of any group of people is to choose the persons who have power over them. Judges not only enforce the law, they leave their thumbprint upon the law just as thoroughly as any legislator when they interpet it. The Founding Fathers understood this and constructed our government so that all persons in a position of power would have to answer, ultimately, to the voters. The method they prescribed to make judges answer to the voters was to give the Congress the right to make and dissolve lower courts, limit juridstiction of all courts, and make exceptions and regulations for all courts. This is fully laid out in Article III of the Constitution. In addition Congress was given the power of impeachment which applies to judges who do not follow the limits and regluations set for them by the Congress.

The Independent Judiciary is a myth. It serves, just like all other branches of government, at the behest and sufferance of the voters. The Congress of the United States, elected by the voters, is the eight hundred pound gorilla in this equation. Just because the Democrat and Republican Congress failed to exercise their rights for 60 years does not mean they have lost that right forever. The solution to the problem of judicial injudiciousness is for Congress to rein back over-reaching judges. They have the power, now they have to summon up the guts to use it. If they do not, they will be replaced.

Representative Pelosi Pressed for Details on Trip, Refuses...Testily

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi seems to have the same trips-paid-for-by-lobbyists problem that Tom Delay has been pounded on by the Democrats and MSM. Although Pelosi's paperwork shows that the Puerto Rico excursion was paid for by Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques, an interest group, Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones who was on the same trip, filed documents showing that Smith, Dawson & Andrews, lobbyists, paid for it.

When asked for documentation proving the interest group funded the junket, Pelosi deflected the question.

This story would not even be on anyone's radar if not for the Democrat's attempt, assisted by the Looney Left, to destroy Tom Delay. I predict that this particular tactic will come back to damage the Democrat's more than the Republicans.

Senator Clinton Must Come Clean About Her Involvement, Or Resign

Using the Left's newly created paradigm of "The fact that there is no evidence of your guilt does not prove you are innocent" I demand that Senator Hilary Clinton prove beyond any doubt that she is not up to her eyeballs in sleaze.

She cannot use the fact that there is no evidence that she knew what was going on right under her nose. Or the fact that there is no evidence that proves she colluded with these felons. One of whom is now in prison! No, she has to prove it. Or else, hand in her resignation

"JANUARY 7--The finance director for Hillary Clinton's 2000 U.S. Senate campaign was indicted today on federal charges of filing bogus financial reports with the Federal Election Commission.

According to the below indictment, David Rosen reported the false numbers in connection with a "Hollywood tribute" honoring Clinton. Investigators allege that a "wealthy individual" paid more than $1.1 million to underwrite the Clinton gala and that those payments were delivered through "several corporate entities controlled by him."

While that whopping sum should have been reported to the FEC as an "in-kind contribution," prosecutors charge that Rosen covered up the real source of the money, and even caused the creation of a fictitious $200,000 invoice to aid his scheme.

The August 2000 fundraiser was billed as a "Hollywood Tribute to William Jefferson Clinton," though the funds raised went to his wife's campaign kitty. The bash was held as the Brentwood estate of radio mogul Ken Roberts. While the so-called wealthy individual (referred to only as "C-1") is not named, he is clearly Peter Paul, an Internet entrepreneur who helped organize the bash.

Clinton is not mentioned by name in the indictment,instead referred to only as "Senator A." The fundraiser was largely orchestrated by Aaron Tonken, a notorious L.A. con man who last August was sentenced to five years in prison following a guilty plea to a pair of fraud counts.

The 39-year-old Tonken, who made his living defrauding donors and underwriters of charity events, now resides in the federal lockup in Taft, California, where he is scheduled to remain until April 2009."

I hope some of you are beginning to realize how ridiculous and unfair is to demand that Tom Delay "prove" his innocence? If so, I have made my point. But as long as there is an orchestrated effort to oust Tom Delay using allegations of groundless, non-existent transgressions, I will continue to point out the unfairness, and hypocracy of it all.

Therefore, Hilary must present her case for innocence. Now!


Gowain

Proving a Negative, Tom Delay's Task, Set by the Left

The following conversation took place on a discussion board. I have edited it for consistency and changed one name to protect the stupid. It began as my response to a Tom Delay story. But developed into what I think is the core fallacy of the argument against Delay: The demand that he present positive proof of his innocence. In other words that he prove a negative.

Gowain....More BS from the Left. Look at the people the story is based on. A turncoat conservative, a Left leaning Republican, another Republican who has been quoted out of context, and un-named sources. Mustn't forget those un-named sources. A lot of noise, not a shred of proof.

LeftiePoster....Where is your proof that the story is wrong????? I am waiting for you to prove it wrong.

Gowain....The proof, or rather the lack of proof, is in the story. No specifics, un-named sources. Etc.

LeftiePoster.....Still no proof offered by you. I am waiting for you to prove DeLay innocent. Give me proof.

Gowain....The proof of innocence is that no one has offered up proof of guilt.

LeftiePoster.....You still haven't offered any proof on this issue. I am still waiting.

Gowain....You are ignoring the proof.

If I alleged that you are a child molester. How would you go about proving your innocence? You have had contact with children, haven't you? How are we to know that you did not molest one of them when no one was looking?

The only thing you could do is point out that there is no proof of your guilt, that no child has ever accused you of molesting him, and that you have never been charged or convicted of pedophilia.

If I refused to accept this and demanded that you provide some positive proof of your innocence, what could you do? NOTHING!

It is called proving a negative and cannot be done.

LeftiePoster.....I am still waiting

Gowain....Again, if I alleged that you are a child molester. How would you go about proving your innocence?

The only thing you could do is point out that there is no proof of your guilt, that no child has ever accused you of molesting him, and that you have never been charged or convicted of pedophilia.

If I refused to accept this and demanded that you provide some positive proof of your innocence, what could you do? NOTHING!

LeftiePoster.....I am still waiting for you to post your proof.

Gowain....Prove you are not a child molester.

LeftiePoster.....Your gall is only surpassed by your stupidity.

Gowain....Still no positive response to my Child Molester allegation huh? Come on, LP, as an exercise in evidence, come up with proof that you are not a pedophile.

LeftiePoster will never be able to prove that he is not a child molester, just as Tom Delay will never be able to prove he did nothing wrong. Not as long as both are faced with the insurmountable task of positively proving something when the only evidence they can point to is the lack, no the non-existence, of evidence proving they committed a crime. This is why the burden of proof always falls on the accuser.

Proof, Proof, Ya Gotta Have Proof!

I challenge anyone to cite proof from any source that Tom Delay has committed a crime. Despite all the noise coming out of the Main Stream Media about the "transgressions" of Tom Delay, they have cited abolutely NO proof of wrong-doing. Bupkas, zip, zero, nada, not-a-flicker.

Makes me want to shout "Where's the beef?" Or in this case, the "Where's the TOFU!"

Gowain

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Fined $21,000 by FEC

"Pelosi PAC fined $21,000 by federal elections officials

WASHINGTON (AP) — A fund-raising committee run by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was fined $21,000 for improperly accepting donations over federal limits, according to records and interviews.

The political action committee, Team Majority, was one of two PACs Pelosi used to fund candidates during the 2002 campaign. She stopped raising and donating money through the committee more than a year ago, after complaints that she was improperly using the multiple PACs to exceed limits.

The fine, which was paid in October 2003, was reported in Team Majority's year-end campaign finance records, released this month. The case is still open and the Federal Election Commission declined comment, but Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said that the fine was connected to donations made to more than two dozen candidates from both of Pelosi's so-called leadership PACs — Team Majority and PAC to the Future — that together exceeded federal limits.

"We checked with the FEC, we thought this was OK, when we found out it wasn't we did everything aboveboard and we've been complying with them," Daly said.

Daly said Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat and leading advocate of campaign finance reform, would dissolve Team Majority after the FEC case was concluded. Two Democrats — Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Julie Thomas, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Iowa — have been fined $2,500 each in connection with donations received from the committee. The agency was still negotiating with a third congressional committee before closing the case, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Federal law dictates that if multiple PACs are under the control of the same person, they're considered affiliated and must adhere to limits as if they were one. Federal law limits PAC contributions to candidates to $5,000 per election. Donors to PACs can give $5,000 annually.

In the 2002 election cycle, Pelosi gave more than two dozen candidates the $5,000 maximum contribution from Team Majority as well as PAC to the Future, which is her main leadership PAC — thereby exceeding contribution limits.

Team Majority gave back more than $100,000 that was collected in excess of limits, records show. But it also collected more than $140,000 that Daly said was within the proper limits. That money was spent last year to support Pelosi's fund-raising activities — including money for salaries, legal fees and phone services, and $2,176 to entertain donors at a box at the Simon and Garfunkel Concert at the MCI Center in December, records show."

Let watch and see if this story gets amplified and repeated over and over like the hit pieces on Tom Delay.

Warning: Don't hold your breath.

Gowain

More Than 3 Million Paid to Congressional Family Members in Last Election Cycle

How come stories like this are coming out now? Why were they not developed at the same time the Tom Delay story was being put together? Could it be that the reporters did not give a damn about fairness? Balance? Could they possibly have an agenda?

WASHINGTON — At least 39 members of Congress have engaged in the controversial practice of paying their spouses, children or other relatives out of campaign funds, or have hired companies in which a family member had a financial interest, records and interviews show.

House campaign funds have paid more than $3 million to lawmakers' relatives over the last two election cycles, records show....

Many lawmakers who have hired relatives say their motivation is confidence, not profit.

"I need a campaign manager I can trust," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), whose wife, Rhonda, is now paid $40,000 a year to run his campaign. Over the last four years, she has received $114,894, records show.

DeLay, a Texas Republican, has defended the payments to his wife, Christine, and his daughter, Danielle DeLay Ferro, saying his family members provided valuable service to his campaign. They received $473,801 over the last two election cycles, records show....

The Times developed a list of names of relatives and businesses owned by relatives on campaign payrolls from interviews, news accounts and personal financial disclosure reports. Campaign reports do not have to disclose whether recipients of funds are related to a candidate, so The Times' list is most likely incomplete.

...The Times' analysis of two election cycles... The campaign fund of Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) paid $251,853 to her husband's firm, according to the candidate's campaign filings. She was followed by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-North Hollywood), $205,500; Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego), $154,504; and Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), $152,362.

Altogether, at least 10 lawmakers in the 53-member California House delegation have hired family members, according to records and interviews.

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Hayward) paid his wife, Deborah, $119,000 from his campaign fund over the last four years to serve as his campaign manager, records show. In the last election, she earned $2,400 a month as campaign manager and was awarded a $2,400 bonus.

"It's just a matter of paying her for the professional job she was doing," Stark said.

In addition, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) paid her son, a lawyer, $130,000 over four years to run her political action committee, according to her campaign filings....

FEC regulations permit salary payments to family members for "bona fide, campaign-related services," according to a 2001 advisory opinion issued to Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.). Jackson had asked the commission whether he could hire his wife, Sandi, as a paid campaign consultant.

"Any salary in excess of fair market value of the services provided is personal use," the opinion said, noting that it was illegal for candidates to use campaign funds for personal use....

Rep. Ralph M. Hall (R-Texas)[a Democrat flopper], whose political committee paid his daughter-in-law Jody $123,761 for the last two campaigns, said, "I don't see anything wrong with it if she's doing real work for real pay."

Gowain

Barbara Boxer Funnels Money to Son, Media Fails to Notice

"In 2003, Barbara Boxer directed $15,000 from her political-action committee, “PAC For a Change,” to a consulting firm run by her son. The year before, she funneled $115,000 to the same firm."

Lets watch and see if this story gets the same attention as the ones about Tom Delay

Gowain

Newt,We Hardly Knew Ye!

Newt Gingrich has always been my hero. The man who ran the corrupt Jim Wright out of Washington, who created the Contract With America, who was the elected official most responsible for the Rupublicans taking the House of Representatives in 1994.

Yep, I have always admired Newt. I knew he was human though. I mean, it was not like he was getting a lot of love and affection for his huge contribution to the Conservative Movement. He had been pounded in the Main Stream Media ever since he triumphed over Jim Wright, with hardly anyone coming to his defense. When he resigned his position as Speaker to be with his true love and make much more money, I could see how a man could decide to chuck it all, and I made allowances for his feet of clay.

That is until today when I saw him criticize Tom Delay. When I first heard about it, I could not believe it. Then I found the video clip on the Internet. Sure enough he had said exactly what the media quoted him as saying.

He said Delay was the one who had to prove his innocence. Then he pooh-poohed the "vast Left wing conpiracy" as if there was not a concerted, orchestrated effort to run Tom Delay out of Washington.

I ask you, Newt, just how does one go about proving that something does not exist except by pointing out that that it does not exist? Tom Delay has pointed out several times that he did nothing wrong, that there is no proof, to no avail. What more can he do?

Not one of the hundreds of negative stories, and opinion pieces, written about him has been able to come up with a single action that was criminal, or even unethical. Yes, he was "admonished" for somehow allowing people to lie to him.

Newt, you of all people know how the Left Wing attack machine works. You were a victim of it! For you to say and do the things you have said and done today bespeaks an ego that places your own notoriety above party and country. For the fleeting fame of being on TV, CBS of all places, you sold your dignity and integrity. You have set the Conservative movement back years for the paltry sum of 30 seconds TV time, and a swipe at a very effective Conservative. Was it jealousy? Good grief!

I weep for you, Buddy. And I can never forgive you.

Gowain